Editing Taiwan Province (section)

==History==
{{further|History of Taiwan}}

===Qing Empire===
In 1683, [[Zheng Keshuang]] (third ruler of the [[Kingdom of Tungning]] and a grandson of [[Koxinga]]), surrendered to the [[Qing Empire]] following a naval engagement with Admiral [[Shi Lang]]. The Qing then ruled the Taiwanese archipelago (including [[Penghu]]) as [[Taiwan Prefecture]] of [[Fujian Province]]. In 1875, [[Taipeh Prefecture]] was separated from Taiwan Prefecture. In 1885, work commenced under the auspices of [[Liu Mingchuan|Liu Ming-chuan]] to develop Taiwan into a province. In 1887, the island was designated as a province (officially "Fujian-Taiwan Province"; Chinese: [[:zh:福建臺灣省|福建臺灣省]]), with Liu as the first governor.<ref>{{harvp|Davidson|1903|p=[https://archive.org/details/islandofformosap00davi/page/244 244]}} "During the French war, Liu Ming-chuan had been placed in sole command, responsible only to the central authorities. Under his superintendence, Formosa had been carried safely through the war, and it was now apparent that the exigencies of the times required that the island should be made an independent province, and that officials of high rank and undoubted ability should be henceforth placed in charge of it. Therefore, in 1887, the island was declared by Imperial decree an independent province, and the Imperial Commissioner Liu Ming-chuan was appointed the first governor."</ref> The province was also reorganized into four prefectures, eleven districts, and three sub-prefectures.{{sfnp|Davidson|1903|p=244|ps=: "A thorough reorganization and redivisioning of the island was now necessitated. In former days, Formosa comprised one complete prefecture, four districts, and three sub-prefectures. Now the island became a province with four prefectures (Taipeh, Taiwan, [[Tainan]], and [[Taitung Prefecture|Taitung]]), eleven districts, and three sub-prefectures."}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Sketches from Formosa |year=1915 |last=Campbell |first=William |author-link=William Campbell (missionary) |publisher=Marshall Brothers |location=London |chapter=Chapter XLIV: A Retrospect and a Forecast |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/sketchesfromtaiw00camprich#page/278/mode/2up |ol=7051071M |pages=278–9}}</ref> The provincial capital, or "Taiwan-fu", was intended to be moved from the south (modern-day [[Tainan]]) to the more central area of ''Toatun'' (modern-day [[Taichung]]) in the revamped Taiwan Prefecture.{{sfnp|Davidson|1903|pp=244–5|ps=: "As a result of these changes and additions, the seat of government (which had been formerly at the old town of Taiwan-fu in the south, which city had been in turn the capital of the Dutch, Koxinga, and the Chinese,) was now removed temporarily to the new city of [[Taipei|Taipeh]], which had been lately in course of construction...In connection with this, it is necessary to go further and explain that it was the intention of the government to build a new capital city in the centre of the island near [[Changhua|Changwha]]. Accordingly, the new city was laid out and the construction of official yamens commenced. The name of the new city became Taiwan-fu, or the capital city of Taiwan (Formosa), and it was also to be the seat of a new prefecture called [[Taiwan Prefecture|Taiwan [Prefecture]]]." }} As the new central Taiwan-fu was still under construction, the capital was temporarily moved north to Taipeh (modern-day Taipei), which eventually was designated the provincial capital.
{|class=wikitable
|+Divisions of Taiwan (Formosa) as a province<ref>adapted from {{harvp|Davidson|1903|p=244}}</ref>
!Circuit!!Prefectures!!Districts!!Sub-Prefectures
|-
|rowspan=12|Taiwan
|rowspan=3|[[Taipeh Prefecture|Taipeh]]
|Tamsui || Kelung
|-
|Gilan ||
|-
|Hsinchu ||
|-
|rowspan=4|[[Taiwan Prefecture|Taiwan]]
|Taiwan ({{lang|zh-Hant|[[:zh:臺灣縣 (1887年-1895年)|臺灣縣]]}}) ||
|-
|Changwha || Puli
|-
|Yunlin ||
|-
|Miaoli ||
|-
|rowspan=4|[[Tainan Prefecture (Qing dynasty)|Tainan]]
|Anping || Penghu
|-
|Kagi ||
|-
|Fengshan ||
|-
|Hengchun ||
|-
|[[Taitung Prefecture|Taitung]]||colspan=2|
|}

===Empire of Japan===
In 1895, the entire Taiwan Province, including Penghu, was [[cession|ceded]] to [[Japan]] following the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] through the [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]]. [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Under Japanese rule]], the province was abolished in favour of [[Political divisions of Taiwan (1895-1945)|Japanese-style divisions]]. After the [[surrender of Japan]] in 1945, Taiwan was [[Retrocession Day|handed over]] to the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] (ROC).

===Republic of China===
[[File:Republic of China edcp location map (disputed territories) Taiwan.svg|thumb|Map of Taiwan Province within the ''de jure'' territory of the ROC.]]
[[File:Taiwan Province License Plate (0146).JPG|thumb|Prior to 1 January 2007 all vehicles registered in Taiwan Province carried the label "Taiwan Province" ({{lang|zh-tw|台灣省}}) on their [[Vehicle registration plates of Taiwan|license plates]].]]

The ROC government immediately established the [[Taiwan Provincial Government]] under first Chief Executive and government-general [[Chen Yi (Kuomintang)|Chen Yi]] in September 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/attachments/9709/japan.pdf |script-title=zh:「去日本化」「再中國化」：戰後台灣文化重建(1945–1947) |quote=Chapter 1. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722235726/http://www.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/attachments/9709/japan.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2011 |publisher=麥田出版社 |last1=Huang |first1=Yingzhe (黃英哲) |date=19 December 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://members.shaw.ca/leksu/mainp9e.htm|title=Shaw Communications|website=members.shaw.ca}}</ref> Chen was extremely unpopular and his rule led to an uprising – the [[February 28 Incident]] of 1947. Chen was recalled in May 1947 and the government-general position was abolished.

When the Republic of China government was relocated to Taipei in 1949 as a result of the [[Kuomintang]]'s (KMT) defeat by the [[Chinese Communist Party]] forces in the [[Chinese Civil War]], the provincial administration remained in place under the claim that the ROC was still the government of all of China even though the opposition argued that it overlapped inefficiently with the national government.

The seat of the provincial government was moved from [[Taipei]] to [[Zhongxing New Village]] in 1956. Historically, Taiwan Province covers the entire island of Taiwan and all its associated islands. The city of Taipei was split off to become a province-level [[Special municipality (Taiwan)|special municipality]] in 1967, and the city of Kaohsiung was split off in 1979 to become another special municipality. In December 2010, [[Kaohsiung County]] left the province and merged with the original Kaohsiung City to become an expanded Kaohsiung City, [[Taipei County]] became the special municipality named [[New Taipei City]]. The cities and counties of [[Taichung]] and [[Tainan]] were also merged, respectively, and elevated to special municipality. On 25 December 2014, [[Taoyuan, Taiwan|Taoyuan County]] was upgraded into a [[Special municipality (Taiwan)|special municipality]] and split off from Taiwan Province.

Until 1992, the governor of Taiwan province was appointed by the ROC central government. The office was often a stepping stone to higher office.

In 1992, the post of the governor of the province was opened to election. The then-opposition [[Democratic Progressive Party]] (DPP) agreed to retain the province with an elected governor in the hopes of creating a "[[Boris Yeltsin|Yeltsin]] effect" in which a popular local leader could overwhelm the national government. These hopes proved unfulfilled as then-Kuomintang member [[James Soong]] was elected governor of Taiwan province, defeating the DPP candidate [[Chen Ding-nan]].

In 1997, as the result of an agreement between the KMT and the DPP, the powers of the provincial government were curtailed by constitutional amendments. The post of provincial governor was abolished. In addition, the provincial council was also replaced by the [[Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council]]. Although the stated purpose was administrative efficiency, Soong and his supporters claim that it was actually intended to impede [[James Soong]]'s political life, though it did not have this effect.

The provincial administration was downscaled in 1998, most of its power handed to the central government. The [[County (Taiwan)|counties]] and [[Provincial city (Taiwan)|provincial cities]] under the province became the primary administrative divisions of the country.